Cops (film)

Cops
Theatrical poster for Cops (1922)
Directed by	Edward F. Cline Buster Keaton
Produced by	Joseph M. Schenck
Written by	Edward F. Cline Buster Keaton
Starring	Buster Keaton Virginia Fox Joe Roberts Edward F. Cline Steve Murphy
Editing by	Elgin Lessley
Distributed by	First National Pictures Inc.
Release date(s)	March, 1922
Running time	18 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English (original intertitles)

Cops is a 1922 comedy short silent film about a young man (Buster Keaton) who accidentally gets on the bad side of the entire Los Angeles Police Department during a parade, and is chased all over town. It was written and directed by Edward F. Cline and Keaton.

Background and plot

This very Kafka-esque film is Keaton's response to the Fatty Arbuckle scandal.^{[citation needed]} Even though the central character's intentions are good, he cannot win, no matter how inventively he tries. He gets into various scraps with police officers throughout the film. Eventually, he unwittingly throws a bomb into a police parade and ends up being chased by a horde of cops.

At the end of the film, Keaton's character locks up the cops in the police station. However, the girl he is trying to woo disapproves of his behavior and gives him the cold shoulder. Therefore, he unlocks the police station and is immediately pulled in by the cops. The film ends with the title "The End" written on a tombstone with Keaton's pork pie hat propped on it.

One of Keaton's most iconic and brilliantly-constructed short films, Cops was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry in 1997.

Cast

• Buster Keaton - The Young Man
• Joe Roberts - Police Chief
• Virginia Fox - Mayor's Daughter
• Edward F. Cline - Hobo
• Steve Murphy - Conman selling furniture (uncredited)

See also

• Buster Keaton filmography
• List of United States comedy films
• 1922 in film

External links

• Cops at the Internet Movie Database
• Cops at AllRovi
• Cops (public domain) on Internet Archive
• Article at InDigest Magazine about the film recently being scored by guitarist Steve Kimock